Thom Panunzio

Thom Panunzio first developed a desire to work on the production side of music while he was a young kid playing in bands. He began to wonder, as he put it, “...what that guy on the other side of the glass was doing,” and, after showing continued curiosity about how the music was being made, continued to be invited by an engineer to come back into the control room. After that initial foray into the world of production, Panunzio’s career got a pretty impressive head-start. He began working as an assistant engineer at the Record Plant studio in New York City alongside Jimmy Iovine and his very first session was with one of the greatest rock artists of our time, John Lennon. As Panunzio puts it, “As a musician, my major influences were without a doubt the Beatles. I wasn’t into sports or a lot of the stuff kids were into, and then the first job I get is to work with John Lennon… not just a Beatle, but thee Beatle. I can’t tell you what that was like!”

Since that auspicious start, Panunzio has had the great fortune to work with an impressive and diverse host of legendary artists and producers, both of whom he credits with teaching him about how to get the sounds he is looking for on a project. He has engineered and produced albums by Willie Nile, Nuclear Valdez, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Willy DeVille, Tony Richards and The Kman Band, and Bob Dylan. He also produced Hammered by Motörhead and Bullet Proof by rapper Hush, also featuring Phil Campbell from Motörhead. Panunzio was also the live sound engineer for U2’s Rattle and Hum project.

Later on, Panunzio, along with Jimmy Iovine, left record production and is currently the Head of A&R at Geffen Records. He has recently produced New Found Glory's Coming Home.